Deceased/Not Found NY - Saniyya Dennis, 19, SUNY College Student, Buffalo, 24 Apr 2021

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What a truly awful (assumed) conclusion.

It’s understandable that it may be difficult for Saniyya’s family to accept that she died of suicide - for this I hope that she is located soon. It appears that LE did a thorough job of investigating all the possibilities - and keeping the effort up to search, until it appeared quite likely that this was a case of self harm.

I also hope that Saniyya’s friends, and particularly those she contacted on this last day, and very very especially her boyfriend receive help and support. I imagine they may be seriously struggling or experiencing feelings of guilt, shame, or blame in addition to grief.

Truly tragic.
 
K9Enzo said:
I hope dog teams are able to continue their assist in the recovery of this poor girl.

This is a tragic time for those who love Saniyya Dennis. IMO
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About 2 dozen people do this every year. Sadly, many of the bodies are never found and those that are can take weeks or months to surface. The area downstream of the falls is very steep, in many places vertical, and mostly wooded so its difficult to search.

This just makes me sick to think she was that distraught.
 
I just left the exact area where the dogs picked up her scent. Unfortunately she would’ve gotten into the water, been taken downstream a small ways and go over the waterfall. I stood there for a while just trying to take it in, try to understand her pain. It was highly upsetting and heavy. There were so many rocks below, most you can’t see. I pray at some point her body finds it’s way out of the rocks so her family can have peace. She deserves it and so does her family. A beautiful soul gone way too soon.
 
This video includes a newly released clip of Saniyya exiting the bus at the Black Rock stop:


Her family will make a public statement at a later date, when they are ready.
 
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ChatteringBirds said:
Sincere condolences to her family and friends.
I do hope her friends and boyfriend know this is absolutely no one's fault.
My heart goes out to her family.
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I agree with you - it is nobody's fault. I still can't help but wish that someone on that day had called Saniyya's parents. No guarantee it would have made any difference or that they could have gotten up there in time, but my close friend has a son, whose girlfriend called to tell them that she got texts like those from Saniayya. The parents drove up to college and brought him home - he dropped out of college, got treatment and a year later went back. It was a long and bumpy road, but he is doing really well now. I'm going to talk to my own kids this weekend and tell them - if someone ever makes comments about harming themselves, please tell someone - us or their own parents. Teens hate to get parents involved, they feel an unnatural sense of "protecting privacy." But I'm still going to try.

Poor Saniyya. Poor, poor parents. Poor friends/boyfriend who talked to her and have to live with that. It has been a hard and isolating time for so many young people.
 
momsof3 said:
I agree with you - it is nobody's fault. I still can't help but wish that someone on that day had called Saniyya's parents. No guarantee it would have made any difference or that they could have gotten up there in time, but my close friend has a son, whose girlfriend called to tell them that she got texts like those from Saniayya. The parents drove up to college and brought him home - he dropped out of college, got treatment and a year later went back. It was a long and bumpy road, but he is doing really well now. I'm going to talk to my own kids this weekend and tell them - if someone ever makes comments about harming themselves, please tell someone - us or their own parents. Teens hate to get parents involved, they feel an unnatural sense of "protecting privacy." But I'm still going to try.

Poor Saniyya. Poor, poor parents. Poor friends/boyfriend who talked to her and have to live with that. It has been a hard and isolating time for so many young people.
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The DA said at the press conference that, according to the friend she talked to for hours, Saniyya had a prior mental health issue. I wonder if her family was even aware of it (they denied it at their earlier presser). It's very sad that she couldn't get proper help this time around.
 
Since she lives in a dorm, I wonder if her roommate/suitemates spoke to her about going out at 11:00PM. I realize that college students who live in residence halls have much more freedom than when I lived in the dorm in the late 60s. No one would have been allowed to leave the dorm alone that late at night. Outside doors were locked at 11:00PM on weeknights, 1:00AM on Friday and Saturday, and midnight on Sunday. Residents didn't have keys to outside doors, so if you were late getting back to the dorm, you had to get an RA to let you in. You were "campused" for a day or two and could only leave the dorm for classes. I would have been very concerned if my roommate or suitemates wanted to go out alone that late at night. I wouldn't want anyone from her dorm to feel responsible for Saniyya's disappearance, but I hope anyone who interacted with her in the dorm that night has spoken to LE and family members about her demeanor.
 
It was said in an article that due to COVID-19, she didn't have any roommates in her dorm room.

ETA: She did speak to a female friend (on the phone) right after breaking up with her bf and before she started bombarding him with calls which he didn't answer. I wonder if she sounded suicidal on the call with said girl friend. The two never spoke again.
 
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BetteDavisEyes said:
Since she lives in a dorm, I wonder if her roommate/suitemates spoke to her about going out at 11:00PM. I realize that college students who live in residence halls have much more freedom than when I lived in the dorm in the late 60s. No one would have been allowed to leave the dorm alone that late at night. Outside doors were locked at 11:00PM on weeknights, 1:00AM on Friday and Saturday, and midnight on Sunday. Residents didn't have keys to outside doors, so if you were late getting back to the dorm, you had to get an RA to let you in. You were "campused" for a day or two and could only leave the dorm for classes. I would have been very concerned if my roommate or suitemates wanted to go out alone that late at night. I wouldn't want anyone from her dorm to feel responsible for Saniyya's disappearance, but I hope anyone who interacted with her in the dorm that night has spoken to LE and family members about her demeanor.
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I don't think college has been that way for a very long time, at least not public Universities. I remember our dorms being locked, but you were free to come and go anytime with your keys. As it should be, as you're an adult, IMO.
 
ChatteringBirds said:
I don't think college has been that way for a very long time, at least not public Universities. I remember our dorms being locked, but you were free to come and go anytime with your keys. As it should be, as you're an adult, IMO.
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I attended public university in Michigan (undergraduate class of 1972) and lived in a dorm for three years because I had a good part-time job working in the dorm office. I had gone to a Catholic school and didn't mind the restrictions. I know things are much different now, but we were not able to let ourselves in or out of the dorm after closing each night.
 
ChatteringBirds said:
I don't think college has been that way for a very long time, at least not public Universities. I remember our dorms being locked, but you were free to come and go anytime with your keys. As it should be, as you're an adult, IMO.
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Definitely wasn’t like that when I was in college in the 70’s
 
A 5000+ word response to DA's announcement, called "National press release" and allegedly put together in cooperation with Saniyya's family, was just posted on SM. Purportedly it was sent to all news outlets. We'll see if it gets published.

My observation: The person/organization that wrote it has been spreading misinformation on SM about this case for days, disregarding/contradicting known facts.
 
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Nancy1954 said:
I believe Saniyya's family is simply holding on to hope because there is no body. I hope that LE is able give her family definitive closure soon. My heart goes out to her family. :(
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Sad as it might be, SD's family and friends won't have closure if her body isn't found. They will be left wondering what really happened to Saniyya and whether or not LE jumped to a false conclusion. If the beautiful young woman actually took her own life at Niagara Falls, I hope her remains surface so her family can eventually be at peace.
 
indicolite22 said:
A 5000+ word response to DA's announcement, called "National press release" and allegedly put together in cooperation with Saniyya's family, was just posted on SM. Purportedly it was sent to all news outlets. We'll see if it gets published.

My observation: The person/organization that wrote it has been spreading misinformation on SM about this case for days, disregarding/contradicting known facts.
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I don't participate in social media and would appreciate your sharing the press release when it becomes available. Thanks.
 
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